11-18-2015News

Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek supports district of Recklinghausen in newPark settlement agreement

With support provided by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, the dispute about the newPark project that had recently even been discussed in the North Rhine-Westphalian cabinet and which had led to a parliamentary debate, was settled. The district of Recklinghausen, the Chamber of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Environment found a compromise. In the future, the parties will constructively implement the project.

The dispute centered about the acquisition of the former sewage farms in Datteln, on which the industrial area newPark is to be developed. The Chamber of Agriculture had approved the land purchase contract only under strict conditions. The district of Recklinghausen had subsequently filed a complaint against this decision. According to the agreement now reached, the lease agreements with farmers, who are cultivating parts of the 500-hectare site, may already be terminated when measures for developing the area are required. Previously the land was only scheduled to be leased to farmers until such time as certificates and approvals for industrial projects were available. Farmers may continue to use the land after termination of the leases, however, until the land is actually needed.

A compromise was also found on the question of using compensation areas, which should in principle be purchased outside the area. Where the implementation of compensation measures on the purchased agricultural land is more economical, however, plots from the acquired land may also be used.

The agreement is subject to approval by the council of the district of Recklinghausen. Subsequently, the settlement agreement may be filed in court and the pending court proceedings completed. Due to the agreement, however, the district can restart its plans to develop newPark again.
newPark is a joint project of the district of Recklinghausen and various cities and economic development agencies in the northern Ruhr area. Its objective is to create a location for new industries in North Rhine-Westphalia on the former sewage farms located in the territory of the city of Datteln.

With a team led by Dr. Ute Jasper, HKLW advises the district of Recklinghausen and the development companies VGV mbH and newPark GmbH on implementing of the project. The acquisition of land and the settlement agreement were accompanied by Dr. Ute Jasper (Lead), Dr. Laurence Westen (Public Procurement Law), and Dr. Anne-Kathrin Wilts (Real Estate Transactions Law/Public Law).    

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